A year ago today I decided to start this blog. I din’t really have a plan, I just dived in head first and hoped I’d be able to stay afloat! I’m still blogging so that’s a good sign. I just wanted to say a gigantic thank you to everyone who has subscribed, liked, commented or just had a peak, it means alot!

I made this cake to celebrate (and as a cheeky treat for me) and it combines two of my favourite flavours at the moment. Apple and Cinnamon. There’s nothing more to say…

I just though I’d share some of the things I have learnt over the past year with you in case you wanted to start up your own baking blog…

1. Have a cupboard of base ingredients (flours, sugars, essences, butter and syrups) as it just makes spontaneous baking alot easier

2. Plan ahead and BE ORGANISED. I was not (I’m still not!) but it does help if you print off monthly calenders so you can see important dates and when you are free to bake and post.

3. Don’t expect everything to be perfect first time. There are some things I really wanted to post but they just weren’t up to scratch so I had to go back to the drawing board. That’s fine!

4. Photograph in natural light and avoid using flash. This is something I’ve really noticed over the past few months, the flash is just too harsh and makes the food look super shiny.

5. Buy a couple of baking books or search around online for recipes. This way you get a feel for measurements and flavour combinations.

6. Look to other baking blogs for inspiration. There are so many beautiful ones out there!

I hope those tips were helpful and I hope that in the forthcoming year I will discover more amazing baking bloggers, experiment more with my photography and maybe start using props and do the Cookie Swap, I just missed the deadline this year!

Ingredients

For the cake: 150g soft, light brown sugar100g soft, dark brown sugar4 eggs250g self raising flour2 medium apples250g butter or margarine1 tsp bicarbonate of soda1/2 tsp nutmeg1 tsp cinnamonFor the apple turnover:1 apple (cored and quartered)1tsp cinnamon1 tbsp water2 tbsp golden syrup100g caster sugarFor the cinnamon cream cheese frosting:250g cream/soft cheese80g butter300g icing sugar1 tsp cinnamonRecipe (The Little Elf Bakery)… makes 1 cakePreheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius and butter a baking tin. Core and thinly slice the apple then place in water so they don’t brown. In a saucepan put the sugar, water and golden syrup and leave to melt, intermittently swirling (but never stirring). When the ingredients have all melted together pour into the baking tin and gently arrange the apples on top and roughly sprinkle 1 tsp of cinnamon over the top. In a bowl cream together the sugars and butter then add the eggs one at a time, don’t worry if the mixture splits. Next sift in the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and nutmeg then gently fold in in a figure of 8. Peel, core and chunkily cut the apples then stir them in aswell. Spoon a third of this mixture into the prepared baking tin and put in the oven for 1/2 hour. When finished, take out oft he oven and leave to cool on a cooling rack.Bake the other thirds of the cake and leave them all too cool. For the frosting cream the icing sugar and butter together. Using an electric whisk add a little cream cheese at a time to this mixture, thoroughly whisking to a smooth consistency before finally adding the cinnamon. Place 1/3 of the cake at the bottom, layer with the frosting then place the other 1/3 on top, repeating the process. Finally put the apple turnover top and proudly admire your handiwork!

The cake has a slightly sticky texture and is very moist so serve with vanilla ice cream!